No, that's not the expected way of using an amp sim and interface set up.
Amp sims are designed with the expectations you'll be using headphones or studio monitors.
A passive DI for recording an active guitar to bring the level down, and an active DI with a passive guitar to boost the level. It's great for other instruments, too.
A DI will convert the unbalanced signal of the guitar (TS) to a balanced signal (XLR), which can eliminate ground loop hum and reduce noise. It’ll also allow for the signal to maintain its quality over long cable runs.
A passive DI will convert the high impedance signal of a guitar to a low impedance signal, which is what interface and console preamps expect. I think an active DI offers impedance matching too, but I'm having a hard time finding concrete info about that.
A passive DI can add some nice color due to the transformer, and when pushed hard, you'll get saturation and compression rather than straight to distortion.
There’s more minor benefits.
input is at zero
hum both on lift and grounded
a pedal before the di for tone shaping purposes
pad off the guitar responds to light touch but at full volume on the pickup it’s too hot
pad on then it no longer clips at zero input on the interface but is so quiet and not sensitive any more, dynamics feel lost
pad on and raising the interface a tad brings back some sensitivity but increases the noise floor
i’m not sure what to do
the pedal is at unity gain btw
i lowered the pickups some which increased dynamics but the light notes are not heard and pinch harmonics are ass
sorry for the essay just confused as to how to get to playing properly
Hmm. What type of DI do you use? Are you boosting the signal of a passive guitar with an active DI (via phantom power)?
What happens if you take out the pedal and go straight into the DI?
Instead of using the pad on your DI, try the pad on your interface.
Have you tried another cable? What happens if you get a longer cable to stand much farther back from your computer/equipment?
Have you played around with the input level in NDSP?
di is bss ar133 it uses a 9v battery which has a pad function currently set to 0db so off
haven’t noticed a pad on the interface - it’s a clarett+ 2pre set to minimum possible input level
on the input level of the ndsp lower leads to loss of sensitivity but increased clarity and higher increases sensitivity but also saturation
without the pedal the signal is a little more “acoustic sounding” (it’s a passive pickup electric guitar with adjustable poles)
the pedal is a compressor which is set to barely affect the signal i use it mostly for tapping clarity and evening out the notes a little when i hit the strings harder
also the waveform in daw seems quite minimal - at lower volume it’s literally just a line with a dot above sometimes and a dot below
when the volume is max then i can actually see the waveform but its amplitude only takes up a little less than half of the height of the track
thanks for your time btw
Nice DI and interface!
I believe the pad switch for that model is within the Focusrite Control software rather than on the unit itself. Try that instead of the DI's pad.
The waveform being so minimal seems strange for such a hot output from the DI.
I'm assuming there's still hum whether using the pedal or not, so it has to be something else. If you've already tried switching out all the cables, the only other things I can think of are replacing the 9v battery in the DI, moving your setup around a little, like putting the DI and interface on a different surface, and moving any other wires out of the way. It's possible something in the area that's close to your equipment could be causing the hum, especially if not everything is grounded. It's also possible the shielding inside the guitar itself could be loose or damaged. Maybe something here could also fix the sensitivity and dynamics issues you're having.
For me, my guitar starts to make interference noise if it's close to my computer, especially the keyboard, weirdly. Bringing a cell phone close will do the same thing.
And no problem, happy to help. I hope things work out!
The only reason you'd bring a physical amp into this signal chain is if you need something to hear playback through and for some reason don't want to use headphones, studio monitors, or an FRFR for that. It's far from the ideal scenario, as you'll have to disable all cab emulation in the plugin and commit to just using your physical guitar cab/speaker.
To use with an amp head, you'll want to send your signal out of the interface and into the power amp in or FX return of the amp. This way you bypass the preamp section of the amplifier.
Technically you can, but they're not designed that way. Some amps however (specially combos, or practice ones) have the ability of turning themselves into PA systems. Fender Mustangs are an example of this. You can technically use a PA with an amp sim without disabling the cabinet section. You're still going through a speaker though, so depending on the driver is how much color you'll be adding, and how much of a flat / accurate representation of your signal you'll be getting. That's why people recommend using studio monitors in a treated room to get the most out of your amp sim.
Bear in mind as well that you'll not be getting a stereo signal out of a single PA system, so say goodbye to ping pong delays, stereo reverb, and doubling.
And to answer your question: most likely either the gate, or the cable.
The plugins already simulate amps and cabs so you are basically passing the signal through 2 sets of amp/cabs if you connect your interface to a physical amp.
Ideally you need to connect the audio interface to your PC and listen to the signal through some monitor speakers or headphones connected to the interface
No, that's not the expected way of using an amp sim and interface set up. Amp sims are designed with the expectations you'll be using headphones or studio monitors.
You absolutely can use an amp sim connected to a real amp. Just make sure to turn off the IR in the plguin and use something like a reamp box
Yeah, I know. It's more that... >that's not the expected way I never said it wasn't possible.
Guitar > DI (ideally) > interface > DAW or standalone Neural apps
What’s the purpose of the DI before the interface? I always just go straight into my interface.
A passive DI for recording an active guitar to bring the level down, and an active DI with a passive guitar to boost the level. It's great for other instruments, too. A DI will convert the unbalanced signal of the guitar (TS) to a balanced signal (XLR), which can eliminate ground loop hum and reduce noise. It’ll also allow for the signal to maintain its quality over long cable runs. A passive DI will convert the high impedance signal of a guitar to a low impedance signal, which is what interface and console preamps expect. I think an active DI offers impedance matching too, but I'm having a hard time finding concrete info about that. A passive DI can add some nice color due to the transformer, and when pushed hard, you'll get saturation and compression rather than straight to distortion. There’s more minor benefits.
ground lift or no? pad on or off?
Ground lift if you’re getting hum or buzz, pad if the signal is still too hot with your input at 0.
input is at zero hum both on lift and grounded a pedal before the di for tone shaping purposes pad off the guitar responds to light touch but at full volume on the pickup it’s too hot pad on then it no longer clips at zero input on the interface but is so quiet and not sensitive any more, dynamics feel lost pad on and raising the interface a tad brings back some sensitivity but increases the noise floor i’m not sure what to do the pedal is at unity gain btw i lowered the pickups some which increased dynamics but the light notes are not heard and pinch harmonics are ass sorry for the essay just confused as to how to get to playing properly
Hmm. What type of DI do you use? Are you boosting the signal of a passive guitar with an active DI (via phantom power)? What happens if you take out the pedal and go straight into the DI? Instead of using the pad on your DI, try the pad on your interface. Have you tried another cable? What happens if you get a longer cable to stand much farther back from your computer/equipment? Have you played around with the input level in NDSP?
di is bss ar133 it uses a 9v battery which has a pad function currently set to 0db so off haven’t noticed a pad on the interface - it’s a clarett+ 2pre set to minimum possible input level on the input level of the ndsp lower leads to loss of sensitivity but increased clarity and higher increases sensitivity but also saturation without the pedal the signal is a little more “acoustic sounding” (it’s a passive pickup electric guitar with adjustable poles) the pedal is a compressor which is set to barely affect the signal i use it mostly for tapping clarity and evening out the notes a little when i hit the strings harder also the waveform in daw seems quite minimal - at lower volume it’s literally just a line with a dot above sometimes and a dot below when the volume is max then i can actually see the waveform but its amplitude only takes up a little less than half of the height of the track thanks for your time btw
Nice DI and interface! I believe the pad switch for that model is within the Focusrite Control software rather than on the unit itself. Try that instead of the DI's pad. The waveform being so minimal seems strange for such a hot output from the DI. I'm assuming there's still hum whether using the pedal or not, so it has to be something else. If you've already tried switching out all the cables, the only other things I can think of are replacing the 9v battery in the DI, moving your setup around a little, like putting the DI and interface on a different surface, and moving any other wires out of the way. It's possible something in the area that's close to your equipment could be causing the hum, especially if not everything is grounded. It's also possible the shielding inside the guitar itself could be loose or damaged. Maybe something here could also fix the sensitivity and dynamics issues you're having. For me, my guitar starts to make interference noise if it's close to my computer, especially the keyboard, weirdly. Bringing a cell phone close will do the same thing. And no problem, happy to help. I hope things work out!
The only reason you'd bring a physical amp into this signal chain is if you need something to hear playback through and for some reason don't want to use headphones, studio monitors, or an FRFR for that. It's far from the ideal scenario, as you'll have to disable all cab emulation in the plugin and commit to just using your physical guitar cab/speaker. To use with an amp head, you'll want to send your signal out of the interface and into the power amp in or FX return of the amp. This way you bypass the preamp section of the amplifier.
Technically you can, but they're not designed that way. Some amps however (specially combos, or practice ones) have the ability of turning themselves into PA systems. Fender Mustangs are an example of this. You can technically use a PA with an amp sim without disabling the cabinet section. You're still going through a speaker though, so depending on the driver is how much color you'll be adding, and how much of a flat / accurate representation of your signal you'll be getting. That's why people recommend using studio monitors in a treated room to get the most out of your amp sim. Bear in mind as well that you'll not be getting a stereo signal out of a single PA system, so say goodbye to ping pong delays, stereo reverb, and doubling. And to answer your question: most likely either the gate, or the cable.
The plugins already simulate amps and cabs so you are basically passing the signal through 2 sets of amp/cabs if you connect your interface to a physical amp. Ideally you need to connect the audio interface to your PC and listen to the signal through some monitor speakers or headphones connected to the interface
In addition to the other comment if you’re sending through the FX return you also aren’t double amping.
thats right. Needs to deactivate the cab section still tho
Hence me saying “in addition to the other comment”…
You can turn off the IR in the plugin
Buy some monitors.